Syndication

It's Beading Contest Season!

It's the time of year for you to get your bead on! There are some great
bead contests going on, and I love seeing the different styles and
techniques used by artists all over the world!

Recently, Laura McCabe, a past Beadwork contributor, took second place for the beads category of the 2013 Saul Bell Design Award competition. This was the 13th year of the contest, in which 1 grand prize winner and 11 category winners were chosen from hundreds of entries. Laura's luxurious design included cylinder beads and crystal pearls in a decadent necklace pattern. Congratulations to Laura and all the winners! See more entries at saulbellaward.com.

This summer, the 2013 Battle of the Beadsmith rages on as 192 artists from 40 countries fight for the coveted title of battle winner--because that is all they will receive in this contest. Also known as "the contest where you win nothing," this contest offers notoriety to the winner as all hail to the new queen or king of beadweaving. Some of the beading community's toughest stitched for eight weeks to create their most imaginative original artworks yet--and they don't disappoint. The entrants are divided into three groups of 64 and randomly paired with another artist with whom they'll go head-to-head to start the elimination-style contest. You can gawk at the past years' spectacular entries and find updates for the current contest at www.facebook.com/groups/419636224777912/.

The Beadalon Design Contest 2013 has just been announced, and you have until December 31 to enter. The winner will receive a $1,000 Beadalon gift certificate and will be featured in a Beadalon magazine ad. Qualifying entries will include Beadalon Bead Stringing Wire for at least 50% of the project, and only stringing products from Beadalon may be used. Enter as many pieces as you wish! Check out guidelines at www.beadalon.com/designcontest2013.asp.

Last but not least, our very own Bead Star 2013 competition is underway, and our judges have been up to their eyeballs in entries this week. Our grand-prize winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to Bead Fest Philadelphia, and our first, second, and third place winners will receive more than $4,000 in total cash prizes. Entries were classified into the categories of crystals, glass, metals and wireworking, pearls, gemstones, and emerging artists--which is a brand new category this year. Also for the first time, beadweaving projects were accepted for entry and all winners will be published in both Beadwork and Jewelry Stringing magazines. Check out winners in the October/November 2013 issue of Beadwork and/or the Winter 2014 issue of Jewelry Stringing.

Good luck to all of you entering contests this year! What other contest do you participate in? Tell us about it in the comments section below!